NON-INDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 299 



principal breeding stations may be mentioned those on 

 the West Indies, off the coasts of Florida (Bahamas, 

 Tortugas), and Central America, various islands in 

 Polynesia and off the coasts of Australia, the Laccadives 

 and other isles in the Indian Ocean, various islands in 

 the Red Sea, and Tristan d'Acunha, St. Helena, and 

 Ascension in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. 



Breeding habits : According to latitude the Noddy 

 Tern visits its breeding stations in May or September to 

 breed. It is a very gregarious species, and some of its 

 colonies are very extensive. Of the pairing habits of 

 this bird I find nothing recorded, but probably the union 

 endures for life, as the same colonies are frequented year 

 after year. The site for the nest varies a good deal ac- 

 cording to locality. In some districts the nest is placed 

 on a mangrove or in the crown of a cocoa-nut palm ; in 

 others on the ledges beneath overhanging precipices ; in 

 others, but more rarely, on level patches of sand or on 

 grass-covered slopes. It is described as often being a 

 large structure, made of dry grass, sea-weed, and twigs 

 rudely heaped together, with a shallow cavity at the top 

 for the eggs. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Noddy Tern are probably three in 

 number. There seems to be some doubt about this, 

 several naturalists asserting that the full clutch consists 

 of one Qgg only ; but as the eggs of this Tern are gathered 

 systematically for food in every well-known breeding 

 station, it is very probable the eggs are taken as they are 

 laid. (Conf. Ibis, 189 1, p. 146.) They are rough and 

 chalky in texture, and vary from reddish-white to pale 

 buff in ground colour, spotted and blotched with reddish- 

 brown, and with underlying markings of pale brown. 

 The markings are not very numerous nor large, and 

 are usually pretty evenly distributed over the surface 



